DEVELOPING CRITERIA FOR TEXTBOOK EVALUATION

1. Developing criteria for
textbook evaluation
David Williams

2. Scheme for evaluation
4 basic assumptions:
Up-to-date methodology
Guidance for non-native speakers of
English
Needs of learners
Relevance to socio-cultural environments

3. 1. Up-to-date methodology
 The ESL textbook should be consistent
with the psychological and linguistic
principles underlying current and accepted
methods of 2nd language teaching.

4. 2. Guidance for non-native
teachers
Provide appropriate guidance so that
novice teachers have no doubt on the
procedures proposed by the textbook.

5. 3. Needs of 2nd language
learners
Textbook must suits multilingual setting.
Distinction has to be made between
English as a subject and English as a
medium of instruction.

6. 4. Relevance to the sociocultural environment
2nd language problems in learning vocab
and syntax arise from differences between
the cultures associated with the target
language & the mother tongue.

7. Checklist for items
1. Give introductory guidance on the
presentation of language items and
skills (GENERAL)
2. Suggest aids for the teaching of
pronunciation: e.g. phonetic system
(SPEECH)

8. 3. Offer meaningful situations and a variety
of techniques for teaching
structural units (GRAMMAR)
4. Distinguish the different purposes and
skills involved in the teaching of
vocabulary (VOCABULARY)

9. 5. Provide guidance on the initial
presentation of passages for reading
comprehension (READING)
6. Demonstrate the various devices for
controlling and guiding content and
expression in composition exercises
(WRITING)
7. Contain appropriate pictures, diagrams,
tables, etc. (TECHNICAL).

10.  Weighting can be indicated by numbers
or letters (e.g. A: very useful; B: quite
useful; C: fairly useful; D: not so useful).
 The weighting of individual items or
groups of items depends upon the level of
the pupils (primary or secondary) and the
objectives of the curriculum.


11.  The evaluation of a primary textbook
would emphasize technical criteria- Choice
of typeface, colorful illustrations, and die
use of aids like workbooks.
 Textbooks should provide balanced and
systematic training in all language skills.

12. Notes on sample checklist (see Appendix}
The scheme used for generating
evaluative criteria is capable of producing
a great many more items than those
included in this sample checklist.
Numerical values can be used in the lefthand column for weighting items according
to their usefulness in a particular secondlanguage context, or at a particular
educational level.

13. The numerical ratings in the right-hand
columns can be used for evaluating and
comparing individual textbooks, or
textbooks considered as a series.
Sets of criteria can be evolved for
comparative evaluations by multiplying the
weighting of each item by the rating on
each item.